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Mallory woke the next day to a sharp, throbbing pain in her head and the sun stabbing her eyes, an almost empty bottle tipped over beside her. She groaned and grabbed the bottle by the neck, eying the puddle on the floor and wondering how much she drank. She swallowed the last of it and dragged herself to the bathroom, running a shower and letting the water wash over her, soothing her headache a little and helping to clear her thoughts.
She winced and shut her eyes, thinking about everything that had happened the day before and regretting most of it. Dick would have gone right to the old team, and Clark was going to be watching her now, too. By the afternoon, the entire League, team, and reserves would have heard every detail about her latest incident and looked up everything that had happened in the last three months, and they all knew where she lived.
She reached for her shampoo out of habit, and her hand brought back a bottle that felt foreign. She opened her eyes and stared at the small, green bottle in her hand, just a normal shampoo that she'd bought off the rack at the store. She'd run out of the last of Wally's shampoo over a month ago, and it wasn't like she was still in touch with anyone who knew her as Mallory anyway. Not since she left Alex and the others behind in college and she'd been fired from her job. Still, it made her feel a little empty to step out of the shower and still see the flaming red locks hanging damp around her shoulders.
She sighed and raised her body temperature to dry off, filling the room with steam as the water burned off of her skin and hair. By the time she made it to her room, she had a plan for the day. She needed to get out of her apartment, that much was sure. If she stayed, every hero she'd ever come into contact with would be there by nightfall, led by Nightwing and Superman, and she really didn't want to talk to them. She donned her suit and went to the window. She didn't know where she was going to go, but it didn't really matter, as long as she kept under the radar and didn't come home until she was sure that the others would have something else to do.
She ended up in the slum of the city, so close to the city limits that at times she wasn't even sure if she was inside or out of Metropolis. She stayed there for a few hours, taking out some petty crime with hand to hand combat, she was pretty shaky on her feet, and her fire wasn't very reliable. After a while, she started to wonder if she was being paranoid in not returning to her apartment. She had almost convinced herself that she was, and she knew she was in no condition to be out in the city anyway, when the freezing January air suddenly dropped by twenty degrees, the chill feeling familiar and immediately bringing a face to the front of her mind.
She looked around sharply, searching for anything out of the ordinary, and she found a trail of ice on top of the snow leading into a parking garage. She shook her head, rolling her eyes. Ice villains were never quite as careful about leaving a trail in the winter. She followed the trail inside, until it stopped abruptly on an empty level near the top. In the back of her mind, she knew she should be more careful, should get out of the center of the room in case it was a trap, but her head was too cloudy to make sense of the situation. Sure enough, a shot of ice came out from behind a pillar, and she dodged too late, the shot catching her arm and encasing it. She melted the ice quickly, and Icicle Jr revealed himself, a briefcase in one hand, the other raised and ready to fight.
"Oh, that's just my luck, isn't it?" he whined. "Why would you have to follow me? We have twenty other guys out, and you had to find me?"
She didn't answer, just narrowed her eyes and said, "Stand down, Jr," her voice coming out monotone and dull.
He cocked his head to the side, either concerned or confused, then he grinned and held up a ball of ice. "Yeah, right. I don't give up that easy," he said. She didn't say anything again, and she staggered to the side a few steps, one hand on her head as a shooting pain went through it. He tilted his head. "You don't look so hot," he commented, his voice unsure.
She glared at him. "Do you know who you're talking to?" she asked, flaming her body in an instant.
He rolled his eyes, shaking his head slightly. "You know what I meant," he said.
She didn't respond, just started forward, intending to fly towards him and start her attack, but her flames flickered violently, then gave out, and she fell the four feet to the concrete floor. Jr started forwards, almost like he was going to catch her, but then he recovered and stood his ground, watching from afar as she struggled to get to her feet. She ignited her hands, glaring at him through the red visors of her mask. Again, the flames were unreliable at best. They flickered around dangerously, died out then came back with a blaze so intense that she finally had to close her fists, wincing as she did so.
He tilted his head. "You really don't look so good," he said, his tone definitely concerned this time.
She narrowed her eyes, raising her fists in combat style. "I don't need my powers to take you down," she promised. Another pain pounded at her skull, and she pressed a palm to it, nearly falling to her knees this time.
Jr started forward slowly, and she forced herself back to her feet, ready to defend herself and retreat at this point. "Yeah, I'm not doubting that," he said slowly, his voice gentle and soothing, "but what's the point in fighting you when you're not at full strength? Look, why don't we just go our separate ways this time, ok?"
"You really think I'm going to let you get away that easy, Jr?" she asked.
He shook his head. "No, no, of course not. I'm just saying, we could, you know, postpone the fight until you're feeling a little more up to it." She tilted her head, searching his face, trying to see if there was a trick coming, an ambush maybe, but all she could see was genuine concern in his eyes as he looked back at her unwaveringly, waiting for her answer. She narrowed her eyes, her mind racing, and he sighed. "Look, I'm starving, anyway. What if we went and grabbed a bite to eat, and then we can fight after that?"
She half smiled, a huff that was almost a laugh escaping her. "Really?" she asked.
He shrugged. "I mean, yeah, why not?"
She lowered her fists slowly, raising an eyebrow slightly. "You know that isn't going to change anything, right? You're still going to be on a transport truck headed for Belle Rev when this is over."
He shrugged. "Yeah, of course, now come on. Hey, you don't know anywhere that does all day breakfast, do you? I'd kill for some pancakes right now." She narrowed her eyes, and he held up his free hand, the other still occupied with the briefcase, and said, "figure of speech, I swear."
She chuckled and tilted her head. "Actually…"
Ten minutes later, Icicle pushed open the door to Bibbo's, holding it open for her to enter, both of them in full costume. The other customers just stared at them at first, either not believing it was the real thing or unsure what they should do as the superhero and supervillain walked side by side to the last booth and slid into the seats. It didn't take long for everyone to leave one by one, until Inferno and Icicle Jr were the only ones in the dinner. Bibbo walked over, his usual rough smile replaced by a scowl as he tossed their menus down.
"Hey, I don't mind you guys coming in here after hours, but you can't be coming in here with no supervillain and scarin' off good business, ya hear?" he said.
Mallory sighed. "Sorry, I guess we could go somewhere else," she said, starting to get up.
Bibbo put a calloused hand on her shoulder, gently keeping her from getting out of the booth. "No, no, yous already scared 'em off, might as well make up the business," he said, his eyes betraying the softness hiding behind the rough exterior. Mallory smiled a little, settling back in her seat, and he took out his notebook. "Now, what can I get yous?"
Upon a quick inspection of the menu, Mallory settled on the cheapest breakfast item there was: a small order of eggs and toast with water. Bibbo wrote it down and turned a disgusted look to Jr. "And you?" he asked gruffly.
Jr started to order, and a pain hit Mallory's head, and she muffled a grunt and pressed her palms to the sides of her head, shutting her eyes as she waited for the throbbing to stop. She winced, her face flushing with embarrassment.
"I'll have a large order of pancakes, a side of fruit, and some coffee. Make it black," Jr said without hesitation.
Mallory cracked an eye open to see him not even looking at her, and trying to get Bibbis attention away from her. She tilted her head, appreciating the effort, even if it wasn't working. The former sailor wasn't moving, and he was keeping his eyes glued to Inferno as if Jr would slit her throat if he blinked. She forced her shoulders to relax and smoothed her forehead, laying her hands on the table.
"She's fine, just get our food," Jr snapped.
Bibbo glanced at him, shooting him a glare, then his eyes landed back on Inferno. She smiled tiredly and nodded slightly, and he huffed and turned to the kitchen, muttering about heroes and villains the whole way.
Mallory chucked, wincing at the pain it sent to her head. "Sorry about that," she said quietly. "He's a little protective of the younger heroes. Which, of course, includes anyone not in the original rosters of the Justice Society."
"It's fine. I get that reaction a lot. I'm used to it by now."
Mallory bit her cheek, finding herself feeling sorry for him. The logic caught up with her quickly, however, and she rolled her eyes. "You chose this life, you can't want sympathy for something you did on purpose."
He grinned, his sharp, elf-like features giving him a mischievous look. "Oh, you caught that, did you?"
The laugh that bubbled out caught her off guard, and she had to force herself to remember who this was. He was a super villain, he worked with the Light, helped blow up her home, he was in a gang that was gaining as much traction as Intergang, especially since Intergang was falling off a little without Ugly or Whisper to lead them. And, worst of all, he was loyal to his father, an even worse villain, which made him dangerous. She put a cool glare on her face, trying to distance herself from the situation. It didn't seem to bother him.
When their food came, Jr had a feast in front of him, and Bibbo put the small plate of eggs and toast in front of Mallory with a concerned look hidden in his eyes. She ignored it and nodded a thanks, and he walked away, still keeping an eye on them from behind the counter as he pretended to work with the books. Jr made a show of looking at all of the food in front of him.
"Wow, that's a lot," he said. "I'll never be able to eat all that. Do you want to take some?"
She shook her head, keeping her face blank, even though the smell of the food suddenly reminded her that it had been two days since she'd had a full meal, and she was starving. "No, thanks," she said, and she forced herself to start eating her own food slowly.
Still, she finished the small meal before Jr had even made a dent in his stack, forcing her to sit and watch him eat. The smell of the food was making her head swim, and she had to cross her arms to try to keep her stomach from growling. She drained her glass of water, hoping that it would help, but it did nothing.
Icicle looked at her every few seconds, and finally he tilted his head. "You sure you don't want some?" he asked. She shook her head again, but her stomach growled loudly, betraying her. He smiled warmly, sliding the plate towards her. "I'm done, take what you want."
She wanted to refuse, to stay strong, but she was so hungry, and she didn't know when she would get a big meal like this again. As it was, she was down to her last fifty dollars. She hesitated, but in the end she couldn't resist the heavenly smell of Bibbo's cinnamon pancakes, and she took a few off the stack and put them on her plate.
"Here, I don't even know why I ordered this, I hate coffee," Icicle said, pushing the cup towards her.
She eyed it suspiciously, looking back up at him. "What are you doing?" she asked.
He shrugged. "What are you talking about? I'm just waiting for you to eat so we can get back to fighting," he replied innocently. Too innocently. She narrowed her eyes, and he looked away. "So, where are we gonna have this showdown?" he asked.
She shrugged. "The abandoned mall out by the north end will work."
He nodded, stretching out in the booth, using the briefcase as lumbar support. "Sure. That'll work," he replied.
Mallory tilted her head. "So, what's in there?" she asked.
He shrugged. "I don't know," he said simply, and Mallory believed him.
"Well, let's find out," she said.
He looked between her and it, then shook his head slowly. "Nah, you're going to have to fight me for it. I'm already gonna be in plenty of trouble for being so late."
She nodded, biting her cheek again as she looked at the nearly empty plates. She looked in her jacket, seeing the last of her money, and bit back a sigh as she pulled it out.
"Oh, you don't have to do that," Icicle said.
She raised an eyebrow at him. "I'm not going to steal from Bibbo," she said firmly.
He shrugged, not saying anything. "So, you ready to fight?" he asked after a moment.
She sighed, looking at the table, then back at him. "You know…I don't think I am," she said slowly.
He raised his eyebrows slightly in surprise. "No?"
She shook her head. "No. Maybe we'd just better postpone that fight for a little longer."
He tilted his head, confused. "Like…how long?" he asked.
She shrugged. "I'll let you know when I'm feeling up to it," she said.
He finally seemed to understand what she was saying, and his jaw dropped slightly. "Really?" he asked hesitantly.
A smile flicked across her lips. "Really," she said.
His face slowly took on a grin, and he started to slide out of the booth. "I like you," he said.
She put her best Bat glare on. "You'd better not make me regret this," she warned.
He held his hands up in mock defense, backing towards the door. When he got to it, he turned back to her. "Hey, Inferno," he said. She looked over, and he smiled. "Catch me later?"
She chuckled and nodded. "You know it," she replied.
He nodded, still smiling, and ducked out into the snow. She sat there for a while longer, sipping the coffee idly and thinking about whether or not she should have done that. The list of everything he'd done, everything she knew him to be, played in her head, and she felt doubt and regret. Then she looked at the table on his side and surprise went through her when she saw the stack of cash, more than enough to pay for everything they'd had, and then some, and on the opposite bench, the briefcase still sat where he'd left it.
The doubts and regret went away instantly, and she sipped her drink to hide the smile forcing itself to her face. Yeah, he was everything she'd thought of, and more, but he was also one more thing: he was a good guy.